
<!DOCTYPE html>

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <title>Python Setup and Usage &#8212; Python 3.8.13 documentation</title><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="../_static/pydoctheme.css?2022.1" type="text/css" />
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="../_static/pygments.css" type="text/css" />
    
    <script id="documentation_options" data-url_root="../" src="../_static/documentation_options.js"></script>
    <script src="../_static/jquery.js"></script>
    <script src="../_static/underscore.js"></script>
    <script src="../_static/doctools.js"></script>
    <script src="../_static/language_data.js"></script>
    
    <script src="../_static/sidebar.js"></script>
    
    <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml"
          title="Search within Python 3.8.13 documentation"
          href="../_static/opensearch.xml"/>
    <link rel="author" title="About these documents" href="../about.html" />
    <link rel="index" title="Index" href="../genindex.html" />
    <link rel="search" title="Search" href="../search.html" />
    <link rel="copyright" title="Copyright" href="../copyright.html" />
    <link rel="next" title="1. Command line and environment" href="cmdline.html" />
    <link rel="prev" title="16. Appendix" href="../tutorial/appendix.html" />
    <link rel="canonical" href="https://docs.python.org/3/using/index.html" />
    
      
    

    
    <style>
      @media only screen {
        table.full-width-table {
            width: 100%;
        }
      }
    </style>
<link rel="shortcut icon" type="image/png" href="../_static/py.svg" />
            <script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/copybutton.js"></script>
            <script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/menu.js"></script> 

  </head>
<body>
<div class="mobile-nav">
    <input type="checkbox" id="menuToggler" class="toggler__input" aria-controls="navigation"
           aria-pressed="false" aria-expanded="false" role="button" aria-label="Menu" />
    <label for="menuToggler" class="toggler__label">
        <span></span>
    </label>
    <nav class="nav-content" role="navigation">
         <a href="https://www.python.org/" class="nav-logo">
             <img src="../_static/py.svg" alt="Logo"/>
         </a>
        <div class="version_switcher_placeholder"></div>
        <form role="search" class="search" action="../search.html" method="get">
            <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" class="search-icon">
                <path fill-rule="nonzero"
                        d="M15.5 14h-.79l-.28-.27a6.5 6.5 0 001.48-5.34c-.47-2.78-2.79-5-5.59-5.34a6.505 6.505 0 00-7.27 7.27c.34 2.8 2.56 5.12 5.34 5.59a6.5 6.5 0 005.34-1.48l.27.28v.79l4.25 4.25c.41.41 1.08.41 1.49 0 .41-.41.41-1.08 0-1.49L15.5 14zm-6 0C7.01 14 5 11.99 5 9.5S7.01 5 9.5 5 14 7.01 14 9.5 11.99 14 9.5 14z" fill="#444"></path>
            </svg>
            <input type="text" name="q" aria-label="Quick search"/>
            <input type="submit" value="Go"/>
        </form>
    </nav>
    <div class="menu-wrapper">
        <nav class="menu" role="navigation" aria-label="main navigation">
            <div class="language_switcher_placeholder"></div>
  <h4>Previous topic</h4>
  <p class="topless"><a href="../tutorial/appendix.html"
                        title="previous chapter"><span class="section-number">16. </span>Appendix</a></p>
  <h4>Next topic</h4>
  <p class="topless"><a href="cmdline.html"
                        title="next chapter"><span class="section-number">1. </span>Command line and environment</a></p>
  <div role="note" aria-label="source link">
    <h3>This Page</h3>
    <ul class="this-page-menu">
      <li><a href="../bugs.html">Report a Bug</a></li>
      <li>
        <a href="https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/3.8/Doc/using/index.rst"
            rel="nofollow">Show Source
        </a>
      </li>
    </ul>
  </div>
        </nav>
    </div>
</div>

  
    <div class="related" role="navigation" aria-label="related navigation">
      <h3>Navigation</h3>
      <ul>
        <li class="right" style="margin-right: 10px">
          <a href="../genindex.html" title="General Index"
             accesskey="I">index</a></li>
        <li class="right" >
          <a href="../py-modindex.html" title="Python Module Index"
             >modules</a> |</li>
        <li class="right" >
          <a href="cmdline.html" title="1. Command line and environment"
             accesskey="N">next</a> |</li>
        <li class="right" >
          <a href="../tutorial/appendix.html" title="16. Appendix"
             accesskey="P">previous</a> |</li>

          <li><img src="../_static/py.svg" alt="python logo" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-top: -1px"/></li>
          <li><a href="https://www.python.org/">Python</a> &#187;</li>
          <li class="switchers">
            <div class="language_switcher_placeholder"></div>
            <div class="version_switcher_placeholder"></div>
          </li>
          <li>
              
          </li>
    <li id="cpython-language-and-version">
      <a href="../index.html">3.8.13 Documentation</a> &#187;
    </li>

                <li class="right">
                    

    <div class="inline-search" role="search">
        <form class="inline-search" action="../search.html" method="get">
          <input placeholder="Quick search" aria-label="Quick search" type="text" name="q" />
          <input type="submit" value="Go" />
          <input type="hidden" name="check_keywords" value="yes" />
          <input type="hidden" name="area" value="default" />
        </form>
    </div>
                     |
                </li>
            
      </ul>
    </div>    

    <div class="document">
      <div class="documentwrapper">
        <div class="bodywrapper">
          <div class="body" role="main">
            
  <div class="section" id="python-setup-and-usage">
<span id="using-index"></span><h1>Python Setup and Usage<a class="headerlink" href="#python-setup-and-usage" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
<p>This part of the documentation is devoted to general information on the setup
of the Python environment on different platforms, the invocation of the
interpreter and things that make working with Python easier.</p>
<div class="toctree-wrapper compound">
<ul>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cmdline.html">1. Command line and environment</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="cmdline.html#command-line">1.1. Command line</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="cmdline.html#interface-options">1.1.1. Interface options</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="cmdline.html#generic-options">1.1.2. Generic options</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="cmdline.html#miscellaneous-options">1.1.3. Miscellaneous options</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="cmdline.html#options-you-shouldn-t-use">1.1.4. Options you shouldn’t use</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="cmdline.html#environment-variables">1.2. Environment variables</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="cmdline.html#debug-mode-variables">1.2.1. Debug-mode variables</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="unix.html">2. Using Python on Unix platforms</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="unix.html#getting-and-installing-the-latest-version-of-python">2.1. Getting and installing the latest version of Python</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="unix.html#on-linux">2.1.1. On Linux</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="unix.html#on-freebsd-and-openbsd">2.1.2. On FreeBSD and OpenBSD</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="unix.html#on-opensolaris">2.1.3. On OpenSolaris</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="unix.html#building-python">2.2. Building Python</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="unix.html#python-related-paths-and-files">2.3. Python-related paths and files</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="unix.html#miscellaneous">2.4. Miscellaneous</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html">3. Using Python on Windows</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#the-full-installer">3.1. The full installer</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#installation-steps">3.1.1. Installation steps</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#removing-the-max-path-limitation">3.1.2. Removing the MAX_PATH Limitation</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#installing-without-ui">3.1.3. Installing Without UI</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#installing-without-downloading">3.1.4. Installing Without Downloading</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#modifying-an-install">3.1.5. Modifying an install</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#the-microsoft-store-package">3.2. The Microsoft Store package</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#known-issues">3.2.1. Known Issues</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#the-nuget-org-packages">3.3. The nuget.org packages</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#the-embeddable-package">3.4. The embeddable package</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#python-application">3.4.1. Python Application</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#embedding-python">3.4.2. Embedding Python</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#alternative-bundles">3.5. Alternative bundles</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#configuring-python">3.6. Configuring Python</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#excursus-setting-environment-variables">3.6.1. Excursus: Setting environment variables</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#finding-the-python-executable">3.6.2. Finding the Python executable</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#utf-8-mode">3.7. UTF-8 mode</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#python-launcher-for-windows">3.8. Python Launcher for Windows</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#getting-started">3.8.1. Getting started</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l4"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#from-the-command-line">3.8.1.1. From the command-line</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l4"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#virtual-environments">3.8.1.2. Virtual environments</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l4"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#from-a-script">3.8.1.3. From a script</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l4"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#from-file-associations">3.8.1.4. From file associations</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#shebang-lines">3.8.2. Shebang Lines</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#arguments-in-shebang-lines">3.8.3. Arguments in shebang lines</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#customization">3.8.4. Customization</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l4"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#customization-via-ini-files">3.8.4.1. Customization via INI files</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l4"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#customizing-default-python-versions">3.8.4.2. Customizing default Python versions</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#diagnostics">3.8.5. Diagnostics</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#finding-modules">3.9. Finding modules</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#additional-modules">3.10. Additional modules</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#pywin32">3.10.1. PyWin32</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#cx-freeze">3.10.2. cx_Freeze</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#wconio">3.10.3. WConio</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#compiling-python-on-windows">3.11. Compiling Python on Windows</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="windows.html#other-platforms">3.12. Other Platforms</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="mac.html">4. Using Python on a Macintosh</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="mac.html#getting-and-installing-macpython">4.1. Getting and Installing MacPython</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="mac.html#how-to-run-a-python-script">4.1.1. How to run a Python script</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="mac.html#running-scripts-with-a-gui">4.1.2. Running scripts with a GUI</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="mac.html#configuration">4.1.3. Configuration</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="mac.html#the-ide">4.2. The IDE</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="mac.html#installing-additional-python-packages">4.3. Installing Additional Python Packages</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="mac.html#gui-programming-on-the-mac">4.4. GUI Programming on the Mac</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="mac.html#distributing-python-applications-on-the-mac">4.5. Distributing Python Applications on the Mac</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="mac.html#other-resources">4.6. Other Resources</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="editors.html">5. Editors and IDEs</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>


          </div>
        </div>
      </div>
      <div class="sphinxsidebar" role="navigation" aria-label="main navigation">
        <div class="sphinxsidebarwrapper">
  <h4>Previous topic</h4>
  <p class="topless"><a href="../tutorial/appendix.html"
                        title="previous chapter"><span class="section-number">16. </span>Appendix</a></p>
  <h4>Next topic</h4>
  <p class="topless"><a href="cmdline.html"
                        title="next chapter"><span class="section-number">1. </span>Command line and environment</a></p>
  <div role="note" aria-label="source link">
    <h3>This Page</h3>
    <ul class="this-page-menu">
      <li><a href="../bugs.html">Report a Bug</a></li>
      <li>
        <a href="https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/3.8/Doc/using/index.rst"
            rel="nofollow">Show Source
        </a>
      </li>
    </ul>
  </div>
        </div>
      </div>
      <div class="clearer"></div>
    </div>  
    <div class="related" role="navigation" aria-label="related navigation">
      <h3>Navigation</h3>
      <ul>
        <li class="right" style="margin-right: 10px">
          <a href="../genindex.html" title="General Index"
             >index</a></li>
        <li class="right" >
          <a href="../py-modindex.html" title="Python Module Index"
             >modules</a> |</li>
        <li class="right" >
          <a href="cmdline.html" title="1. Command line and environment"
             >next</a> |</li>
        <li class="right" >
          <a href="../tutorial/appendix.html" title="16. Appendix"
             >previous</a> |</li>

          <li><img src="../_static/py.svg" alt="python logo" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-top: -1px"/></li>
          <li><a href="https://www.python.org/">Python</a> &#187;</li>
          <li class="switchers">
            <div class="language_switcher_placeholder"></div>
            <div class="version_switcher_placeholder"></div>
          </li>
          <li>
              
          </li>
    <li id="cpython-language-and-version">
      <a href="../index.html">3.8.13 Documentation</a> &#187;
    </li>

                <li class="right">
                    

    <div class="inline-search" role="search">
        <form class="inline-search" action="../search.html" method="get">
          <input placeholder="Quick search" aria-label="Quick search" type="text" name="q" />
          <input type="submit" value="Go" />
          <input type="hidden" name="check_keywords" value="yes" />
          <input type="hidden" name="area" value="default" />
        </form>
    </div>
                     |
                </li>
            
      </ul>
    </div>  
    <div class="footer">
    &copy; <a href="../copyright.html">Copyright</a> 2001-2022, Python Software Foundation.
    <br />
    This page is licensed under the Python Software Foundation License Version 2.
    <br />
    Examples, recipes, and other code in the documentation are additionally licensed under the Zero Clause BSD License.
    <br />
    
    <br />

    The Python Software Foundation is a non-profit corporation.
<a href="https://www.python.org/psf/donations/">Please donate.</a>
<br />
    <br />

    Last updated on Mar 17, 2022.
    <a href="https://docs.python.org/3/bugs.html">Found a bug</a>?
    <br />

    Created using <a href="https://www.sphinx-doc.org/">Sphinx</a> 2.4.4.
    </div>

  </body>
</html>